MASS media students of a Grant Road college are on a 'silent' mission.

After a survey revealed that honking incessantly was nothing less than a pastime for most in the city, the students have taken it upon themselves to dissuade such inveterate honkers.

Students of Akbar Peerbhoy College on Grant Road hold 'No Honking' campaign in the silence zone of J J Hospital with placards and banners

The survey was conducted by students of Akbar Peerbhoy College and based its results on some 10 questions put to 100 people in the city.

The respondents rated J J Hospital area, Nagpada, Dadar and Andheri as the most raucous.

The honking was found to be severe between 10 am and 12 pm, and 6 pm and 8.30 pm. The bikers were guilty of honking unnecessarily, according to the survey.

Almost 75 students then distributed some 5,000 hand-written letters to people at petrol pumps in places such as J J Hospital, Colaba, near Manish market, Byculla, Bhendi Bazar, Mumbai Central, Mohammed Ali road and Clare road.

Also, thousands of pamphlets were distributed to drivers in the city, to deter them from honking unnecessarily.

"Our professor and head of the unaided courses Hanif Lakdawala gave us an idea to hold such a survey. And our BMM co-ordinator Haya Moledina encouraged us to conduct a campaign against honking and not simply stop at the survey," said Amin Memon, a TYBMM student.

Another student Amir Khan, TYBMM, said, "Do you know that the traffic policemen frequently visit the Ear Nose Throat (ENT) department of JJ Hospital to take ear drops? We came to know about this when we spoke to one of the doctors of ENT about the problems one can face because of honking."

Imran Chaudhary, TYBMM student, said, "During the survey we met a family from abroad and asked them about honking. A three-year-old child from the family told us that honking was akin to abusing someone in their country.

'Here in India any one walks easily on streets halting the vehicles, which does not happen in our country', she said. 'So may be that's why honking takes place a lot here'."

The students said they had made banners with the slogan 'Kyun hai itni chillum chilli, Kya ho tum kutte billi?' to shame the habitual noise-makers.

"We wore this banner and also distributed the pamphlets to drivers. The traffic policemen cooperated with us and appreciated our campaign too," said Abdul Kadir, also a TYBMM student.

"To see how many times a person honked, we drove for a kilometre from Grant Road in a taxi and found our driver honked at least 35 times on the way."

Dr Sanjay Navelkar, ENT specialist, said continous exposure to honking for a prolonged period could be harmful for ears. "Hearing of a person living in a village will be better than a person staying in the city.

Sudden exposure to loud sounds in excess of 110 decibels, can lead to hearing loss, for example, the burst of a loud cracker," Navelkar said. The survey was conducted between September 1 and 5.